The previous two years I've done this 'recap/grading the Raptors season' thing (in fact the only two times I've done it) were far more straightforward to describe. "Team stinks and isn't intending to win at all" can provide only so much in the way of detailed (or particularly interesting) insight.
This past season was thankfully not that, which in of itself is already a success. (Mostly) competitive basketball from a team that won more games than they lost for the first time in four years, coupled with a return to postseason play... well surely this must be a sure-fire winner's ribbon for the entire organization, no? A clear sign that the design and talent of the team is both working in the present and is on the rise? Right? Yes? Maybe?
Well... going into the playoffs my feelings about this team and its immediate future were indeed extremely murky. There had been enough regular season evidence to show the team's core players pretty much are what they are, with any potential improvements likely more marginal in nature than game breaking... meanwhile some of the young players carried considerable promise sure but not really a true potential star lurking among them.
Which matters because while the W-L improvement looks very nice, the flaws of this team did not take long to make themselves abundantly obvious. They struggled mightily to both create and hit three pointers, their offence in general was prone to lengthy ill-timed (the fourth quarter) spells of infuriating futility (which we saw plenty of in the playoffs too) and the Raptors simply couldn't handle the sheer physicality and toughness brought by several opponents... not to mention of course their infamous (almost meme-able) inability to beat almost any of the top teams in the league. As a result, the unanimous consensus around the league was that these Raptors would be easily dispatched in the first round by any opponent (which ended up being the Cleveland Cavaliers rather than the New York Knicks thanks to some Game 82 miracles) in five games or fewer.
Cleveland did indeed win that series and send the Raptors home in the first round... but it took seven hard fought games with the plucky underdog Raptors putting a tremendous scare into the championship hopeful Cavs right up until the third quarter of the final game... when Toronto finally just ran out of juice and effective healthy players. Such an admirable showing in the playoffs however, despite missing two crucial starters for essentially the entire series... really adjusts the outlook for this Toronto franchise. Seeing those promising young players rise to the moment, not look afraid of taking the big shots and never stop battling despite all the odds against them... well it was just damn wonderful to watch. One of my biggest frustrations watching the regular season was seeing the team so often wilt and crumble when challenged by tougher competition, but that was not the case in the playoffs whatsoever.
All of this makes the question of "where do they go from here?" all the more difficult to imagine or answer. Those glaring flaws will be hard to correct within the addition of a single player, while even if such a player were available and attainable the Raptors salary situation is extremely clunky. Minimal cap space and all of their major salaries are the five starting players (who have widely varying degrees of hypothetical trade value). The path to meaningfully improve and build upon what is already here appears rather foggy.
Not impossible, I suppose. In the meantime it was (for me anyway) an overall positive experience to follow this team all winter and spring, as hair-yankingly frustrating as the watch could often be. This was a maddeningly predictable squad: capable of laying embarrassing stink eggs against the least competitive teams in the league but rarely even giving a scare against any of the true contenders. Then just when you think they were on the verge of falling into the dreaded play-in bracket for good, they'd go off and do something like this:
And of course, the playoffs happened and I felt the magic of Raptors basketball in full force once again... leaving me with a huge swelling of pride in this team and how hard they competed even with few people giving them any kind of chance. Working those three home playoff games, in particular Game 6, was the most electricity I've felt in that building* in my half-decade getting paid to be there.
Needless to say, it was way, way better than watching a team not intending to win.
Let's dive into the grades, starting with the fellas in charge.
*yes I've worked a handful of Maple Leaf playoff games too and that was less electricity and more a thick cloud of impenetrable dread... the Game 2 OT win against Ottawa excluded.
Bobby Webster -- C+
An okay first season for Webster no longer being under the shade of the large shadow of Masai Ujiri. Found an absolute steal on the bargain free agent market, seems to have absolutely nailed the #9 overall draft pick and... um, managed to slip under the luxury tax with some trade deadline manouvering which, cool I guess.
The real swing and miss (dragging his grade down considerably) was extending Jakob Poeltl before training camp for no real reason, which... well is not looking so hot at the moment (and looked much much worse halfway through the year). That unforced error alone (potentially looming as one of the worst contracts in the league now) makes it impossible to give Webster any kind of higher score, despite the other moves looking pretty good.
The big and obvious question Webster faces is whether to give this core five starters another run together while trying to add around the margins, or to trade one (or more) of them in an attempt to solve the weaknesses. Which isn't all that simple a path either, seeing as each starter provides a different something absolutely crucial to the team's success. Meanwhile none of the young guys, while certainly appealing to other teams, make enough in salary to exchange for a significantly more established upgrade (you'd have to trade more than one of them, which I'd say is extremely untenable unless its for a super-duper Jokic/Giannis-level megastar).
A bit of a pickle indeed and this is always the hardest step: figuring out how to go from a 'good' team to a great one. Webster has succeeded in getting the team to that first part and the Raptors still own all their future first round picks, which is a solid foundation to be at... we'll have to wait and see if he has the creativity, good fortune and/or the daring to push this thing towards that next step. The Eastern Conference is in a bit of disarray at the moment as these playoffs have demonstrated, whether or not there's an opportunity to seize that opening remains to be seen.
Darko Rajakovic -- B
Perhaps a tough grade for a head coach who just led his team to a playoff appearance and a 16 win improvement (and this grade was indeed going to be harsher if not for the Raptors showing up so admirably in the playoffs). Rajakovic deserves a lot of credit for instilling a seemingly very positive team culture, which for all the eye-rolling that brought during the valleys of the regular season... clearly appears to be worth something. These guys genuinely seem to like and pull for each other through thick and thin, which isn't as easy a thing to create in an ego-driven workplace as it might seem.
The lack of toughness and grit (both physical and mental) the team displayed has to fall somewhat on his shoulders. Too often it felt like opponents could walk all over them (which Dejonte Murray actually did) and any fight or response typically was too little too late. Not to mention important games the team just didn't appear to take seriously (*cough* at home against the Kings *cough*), unable to rein in their careless play until it was much too late. Those were still legit problems that thankfully mostly vanished in their determined playoff run, but problems nonetheless.
I'm not in any hurry to get rid of Darko, despite those shortcomings. His coaching in the playoffs (aside from that dumb challenge in Game 7) was exceptional as he showed a willingness to adapt on the fly (losing your all-star scorer is no small hurdle) and clearly maximized the most from what he had left to work with. Credit to him also for not being stubborn and continuing to play guys that clearly were not helping the team at all (one in particular that I think we can all guess who).
Honestly, I'd been a bit lukewarm on Darko until that playoff series wherein he really, really impressed me. The Raptors might have a legitimately great head coach on their hands here... but I do really, really, really wish he'd knock it off with the dumb low-leverage challenges in the first half of games though. It's been a problem his entire tenure and it drives me completely mad.
THE PLAYERS
As usual, we'll be using a minutes cutoff meaning that the likes of Markelle Fultz, Chucky Hepburn, Mo Bamba, Chris Paul (still wild he technically finished his career as a Raptor!) and Tyreke Key get those N/A grades.
Scottie Barnes -- A+
Barnes was all set for a strong grade from me regardless how the playoffs went. A worthy all-star, probably (should) be an NBA First Team All-Defence... an extremely strong season for the marquee player of the Raptors franchise. Then the playoffs happened... where we saw him elevate his game to a true super-duper-star level on both ends of the floor, be the best player in a series with two future Hall of Famers against him... absolutely mesmerizing. This was the type of stuff where you understand why the team has been labeling Barnes as a "face of the league" kind of talent. He was sensational and I'll bet James Harden or Donovan Mitchell are still breathing easier knowing nobody like Barnes will be guarding them the rest of their postseason run.
I think we're at the point where you have to accept Barnes for what he is, which is an imperfect player who is incredibly tricky to build a strong offence around despite him considerably improving his scoring efficiency this past year... but holy moly is he an all-world level defender. We'd be talking about him as a serious perennial Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner if not for that very tall Frenchman in San Antonio. There's basically nothing on the defensive end that Barnes can't do: keen at intercepting passes, swiping unsuspecting ball-handlers, covering incredible amounts of space in recovery... and of course you have to be aware of where he is if you're going to the rim or you're ignoring him at your own peril...
His offensive game is still where things are frustrating. Yet again his strong outside shooting early in the season completely faded by the all-star break (he's simply a bad NBA three point shooter, full stop) which certainly doesn't help when he's a scoring focal point on a team already painfully light on shooting. Not only that, but Barnes (especially in the second half) just had so many games where he'd completely disappear/look uninterested in scoring the ball for the majority of his minutes... especially frustrating when you watch the playoffs and see what he's fully capable of. If he could bring that level of determination every night he'd be getting short ballot MVP votes.
He's a big, strong and quick player who has added some very effective scoring juice in the mid-range. It's nice that he's so unselfish and team-first (he'd probably rather get 10 assists than score 20 points for himself) but this was a team prone to long crippling droughts on the offensive end and they could've desperately used a more scoring-engaged Barnes to escape those painful ruts.
Sure he's still pretty young and there are elements of his game still to add, I just don't see "25+ points per game" as one of them. The outside shooting remains a real issue when trying to build the right pieces to optimize the many great things Barnes can do to help you win. Nevertheless, this was his first real run as a star player on a winning team (his rookie year was surrounded by more established guys like VanVleet and Siakam for defences to focus on) and so I'm willing to give him a lot of grace. Still a terrific season for Barnes, a worthy all-star selection and damn he was so freaking good in the playoffs. The Raptors are in a very good spot having this guy around.
Collin Murray-Boyles -- A-
I confess, this pick totally baffled me on draft night. "Another under-sized power forward who defends like crazy but can't shoot? Why are we doing this again? There's an intriguing centre sitting right there too!"
There's still plenty of time for Khaman Malauch to become a strong NBA player, sure... but Murray-Boyles is already there folks. A rookie who played with the poise and confidence of a seasoned veteran, while just being an absolute terror on the defensive end. Subtle winning plays time and time again (you'd honestly forget he was a rookie out there) there's no question this Raptors team doesn't get nearly as far as they did without him. And he did it all with the thumb on his shooting hand giving him constant difficulty. The Raptors have a real one here, folks. Dude is still only 20.
CMB looks like a potential franchise cornerstone already, a dude you can definitely envision building a team around. Of course, that's a difficult match with Scottie Barnes unless one of them becomes an even average outside shooter... but as we saw in the playoffs the defensive upside of that front court is truly staggering, even if it leaves you extremely lacking on the glass (as we saw Cleveland gobble up tons of offensive rebounds in that series). He has way more offence to his game than I could've hoped for a (just fabulous feel around the rim) and there are encouraging signs he can add a bit of range to his variety of skills. A home run of a draft pick and I'm once again beyond happy to be wrong about it.
RJ Barrett -- A-*
Barrett is probably more deserving of a 'B' for his overall work this season, but he gets the boost for this moment alone:
Amazing stuff. Probably the coolest sporting moment I've ever attended in person.
Aside from a few weeks mid-season when he was coming back from a knee injury and played just terribly... Barrett was a consistently reliable third option on a team that desperately needed his drive-to-the-basket scoring punch. He is just relentless at it: so strong and so determined to just out-muscle anybody in his way. Every defender must know he's gonna go to his left and it often doesn't matter.
While his limitations remain glaring (he's simply not a good or aware defender despite his considerable strength, though his effort level in the playoffs was encouraging) there's no doubt that he is a much improved version of himself compared to his New York Knick days. Just so much more efficient around the rim and in the mid-range even though he hasn't been taking less shots per game as a Raptor, with a bit more playmaking in his hometown to boot. The man has turned himself from a widely considered negative-value contract into an extremely effective and useful starter making about what you'd expect a player of his impact to get paid, perhaps even a little bit above market value.
I don't see Barrett reaching a level where he's a consistent all-star or anything (more like maybe he sneaks in one year in the right situation) but I'd say considering what he can give you as a scorer he's certainly an above average starter in this league. Joseph Casciaro of The Score has commented multiple times that he could see Barrett winning a few Sixth Man of The Year awards if he were ever to find himself primarily in a bench role, which also makes a lot of sense to me. Coming off the bench would also help to hide his defensive deficiencies, getting to guard less dangerous players.
For now though, you have a hometown kid (now hometown hero) who absolutely loves being here and has elevated his game in that time as well, plus is still fairly young despite just finishing his seventh season in the NBA. I'd previously figured Barrett made the most sense as the starter to trade as a way of upgrading the roster... now I genuinely don't want to see the guy play for another team quite so soon. If Scottie Barnes is the face of the team, RJ Barrett is definitely its heart. Hometown hero indeed.
Brandon Ingram -- B+
Ingram definitely gets docked for his rough-as-sandpaper showing in the postseason. You have to figure the poor performance was connected to the heel injury that eventually knocked him out of the series, to which I'll gladly forgive him for that (rather than run him out of town like some of the fanbase wants to do now)... but the awful performance still happened and I can't overlook it in my final grade. He was so bad in the playoffs that the team was significantly better without him on the floor.
This was obviously a very important season for Brandon Ingram's career. Escaping from a hapless situation in New Orleans, Ingram needed to prove that he could both stay healthy and play winning basketball again. On that front, this was a huge success. While he had some dips throughout the season, he started it with such an explosive bang (racking up smooth mid-range scores and game winning shots) that it took a little time for the weak spots in his game to fully show themselves.
He's of course an exceptionally gifted scorer, long and lanky and so silky smooth when he's getting off his shot. Very very fun to watch when he gets cooking, as while he can score from anywhere it's the mid-range where he most likes to make his work. Also a much better defender than advertised (possibly just playing for a good team again helped the ol' effort on that end, me thinks) as because he's so long he can surprise you with a thunderous block here and there.
The shortcomings are, as with almost any pure high volume scorer not named Gilgeous-Alexander or Doncic, you're going to have to live with the off nights where the process looks real bad because he's clanking all these long two point shots and taking lots of them. Looks magical when it's working, exasperating when it's not.
Having Ingram as your best scorer does limit your upside somewhat also, as he's perhaps very good but not quite great/elite in that department (being the best scorer on this particular Raptors team is not high praise considering all their offensive struggles) and the team as constructed really depends on him as though he is that level of guy. Not his fault of course and he's still a terrific player regardless. Most games he had played in a season since his rookie year in LA, most games started and minutes played (by a mile) in his whole career by a substantial margin. Great comeback story, plus it is fun having a celebrity sit courtside every game again too (Glo also does seem like a much nicer/sweeter person than Drake at that).
Ja'Kobe Walter -- B
It really looks like the Raptors nailed another pick here, even a non-lottery one in the weak 2024 Draft. In his rookie year Walter focused on becoming a tenacious on-ball defender, a sticky cover with good enough hands to snatch a ball away if you're not too careful. This season, despite a slow short where he didn't play much, he fully unlocked the three point shot and it was among the NBA's best after the all-star break. Two extremely important skills that can give you a very long and fruitful NBA career... and he's only 21.
The next step will be to improve the handle, as he's a bit clumsy on drives and not all that great at protecting the ball. There's some foul-drawing skill in there so if he could master that... look out. He could stand to get a little bigger (stronger) as well, as he is pretty slight in frame... but I don't think there's much more you can quibble with in his game. Will be fascinating to watch what he becomes/adds over the next few years as there truly might be an elite secondary player in there.
Jamal Shead -- B
Had just a brutal month where he couldn't get a tennis ball to land through the ocean... especially rough when scoring the ball is already the biggest wart in your game. If he could become even an average long range shooter though.... there's a stud here. Shead is such a heady, scrappy player.... a natural floor general despite his relatively limited professional experience, that you really want to have him out there. Whether or not he can find any kind of decent level offensively will determine whether he's a legitimate NBA starting point guard or a useful-though-flawed- backup.
His knack for drawing moving screen offensive fouls became delightfully predictable, he's an alert passer who has gradually toned down the riskier plays (although the entire team seems to be infected with this habit of throwing away a long lead pass on fast breaks) and is already one of the better backup point guards in the entire league. He's a bit more Kyle Lowry than Fred VanVleet (VanVleet was always a great shooter but Shead has more of those Lowry-like instincts). Regardless, Shead probably has the defensive play of the season for the Raptors right here:
Love this kid. Knew exactly what he was doing. A second round pick in a bad draft that we got in exchange for one of the worst Raptors of all time. Amazing stuff.
Sandro Mamukelashvili -- B
No lie, I actually spelled "Mamukelashvili" correctly on my first try without even looking it up. Honest! It might be one of those names that's harder to pronounce than spell anyhow, judging by the many different versions I heard from opponent broadcasters...
Mamu ("said knock you out!" as Matt Devlin liked to work in) had one of the greatest 'found money' seasons I can recall in Raptors history. A guy they signed for depth who came in with little in the way of expectations. Who are the other contenders? Mike James? Rondae Hollis-Jefferson? Jamario Moon? Voshun Lenard? I think Mamu takes that one...
A stretch big who can also bulldoze his way to the rim, Mamu gave the Raptors bench desperately needed shooting and size almost immediately, especially important with Poeltl being so absent in those first two thirds of the season. His scoring ability/threat was so crucial as a reserve that it more than covered up for his defensive weaknesses (he's fairly slow on his feet and cannot protect the rim) and that he's also not much of a rebounder despite being like the second tallest guy on the team. Having a big who can stretch the floor is basically the perfect player to put next to Scottie Barnes, yet it feels like Shead was the guy best at finding Mamu his shots... they had legitimately great chemistry together.
This is a tough one as far as what the future holds. He wasn't playable in the postseason at all (just looked too timid to take his usual shots, erasing by far his best NBA virtue) but he's probably going to want some guaranteed money and term after the strong season he put together... with the Raptors being pretty tightly against the luxury tax don't forget. On one hand you can probably do quite a bit better with this player type, but on the other hand who could Toronto realistically add that's a surefire better player? There were a lot of nights that they needed his scoring desperately.... will be an interesting one to watch.
Jamison Battle -- B-
Probably saved the entire season twice, both times against Cleveland. First on Halloween when the team was 1-4 and completely sputtering, hit a bunch of threes to steal a road win... then again in Game Three with Cleveland potentially about to strangle the Raptors out of the series.
I really don't understand why Darko played him so little, seeming to treat Battle as a "break glass in case of emergency" type of option rather than a regular in the rotation. It was constantly maddening in the first half of the season to watch Gradey Dick clank shot after shot in consistent minutes while Battle rode the pine. Sure he isn't much of a defender (though probably more below average than flat out bad) but he's got size and not to mention he's clearly proven himself as a tremendous NBA shooter from long range, which is something this Raptors team did not have a lot of.
Instead, Battle sat around while Dick and Ochai Abgaji played tons of minutes trying (and failing) to get their respective games going. At least Darko came around back to Battle** eventually at just the right moment... one Battle three after another.
Immanuel Quickley -- B-
Had a good year overall, but I think you're hoping for significantly more (especially at that price point). Got hurt at the worst possible time too. Had some early struggles where he looked terrible, then got insanely hot for a while, then just seemed to be steadily good until the foot and hamstring injuries came calling.
Joe Wolfond (a much better basketball writer than I, seriously go check him out) wrote a fabulous in-depth analysis of Quickley back in January, noting that while Quickley has his limitations as a playmaker who can break down defences and as a one-on-one defender (he's also rather wiry) he'd actually been playing strong quality team and off ball defence much of the year. That certainly matched the eye test as well, as I don't recall often being frustrated with him being a pylon on that end really ever (unlike Barrett).
Whether or not he's your long term starting point guard is I think reasonably open for debate. You need his shooting of course, meaning I suppose there's a world where he becomes your starting shooting guard if the Raps bring somebody else in. The contract doesn't look great either, though is far from the most egregious on the Raptors' books at the current moment. For now... I do think Quickley had the coolest shot of the regular season (and an all-time great opposition broadcast call.... OH NO!!!! NOOOOO!!!)
A.J. Lawson -- C+
I can see the appeal. There's definitely an NBA player in there and he hit some very important shots in the playoffs when the Raptors were running out of guys. Can at times be a really exciting player to watch. There were a lot of times I barely noticed him on the court however, which makes me think inconsistency is the real issue. Still, as a depth wing serving as your 11th-14th guy you could do a lot worse.
Garrett Temple -- C
The professional veteran teammate who can't really contribute winning minutes anymore but is such a valuable guy to have around (especially around your young players) you keep a roster spot for him anyway. I imagine the Raptors organization would prefer if he retired and became a coach for them, but Temple apparently wants to keep playing and hey, why the hell not man. Once you're done, you're done forever as they say. Temple will probably be the last ever Raptor player older than me, so for that reason alone I selfishly want him to keep going.
Alijah Martin -- C
Intriguing stuff for sure... and such a Raptors-type player it's rather funny. A feisty guard who battled his way through college to become a winner, now making a go of it as a professional despite the odds and limitations. I do like him... but being a 'Raptors-type' player also typically means you're not all that great a shooter, something Martin will need to improve upon to have a chance. The organization seems to really like him anyhow, so I figure they'll find a way to bring him back for training camp at the very least.
Jakob Poeltl -- C-
Cross your fingers and hope it gets better, because otherwise... we've got a serious problem here folks. That's a lot of money for a guy who did not look all that good or even playable the majority of the time he was able to hit the hardwood this past season.
Poeltl was never a guy who wowed you with incredible athleticism or anything, but the back issues clearly brought him to a level where his great size and fundamentals gave opponents little issue. In the playoffs it looked like there was glue on the soles of his shoes with how little lift he had to get off the ground. He could barely keep anybody in front of him most of the time, his ability to clean the glass suffered from his lack of boost, and the offence is already tough when he's on the floor since he's just a complete non-entity beyond ten feet from the hoop. The team extended him at Isiah Hartenstein money with considerable term and guarantee but they got a later career Rasho Nesterovic performance. Not ideal!
I still like Poeltl and am somewhat hopeful he can return to something like his previous level: a high quality starting centre who gives strong interior defence and helps keep the offence humming as a secondary post ball mover. He just rarely had any of that burst or punch this season and he was often completely unplayable because of that. Still had enough strong games to keep this grade from being much, much lower... but there are reasons to be seriously worried about this contract crippling the team's future flexibility. Raptors will still be paying him when the calendar turns to 2030.
Jonathan Mogbo -- D+
The guy I think many fans forgot even existed at all (I sure did) what with the hotshot high pick rookie coming in and basically being everything Mogbo can be only way, way, way better at all of it.
Mogbo has enough ability (particularly as a switchy defender) to have some sort of NBA career I think, but it's so hard on the offensive end for him that I'm not all that optimistic about it. He just never seems certain or confident what to do, where to be, when to pass and when to shoot... it usually gums up the whole offence when he's out there because he's just too slow at processing NBA speed. Maybe it can work on a team with plenty of scoring firepower that just needs this type of specialist... not sure that's this particular era of the Raptors though.
Trayce Jackson-Davis -- D+
Remember how the championship team of 2019 didn't have a single left-handed shooter? I mean sure, C.J Miles and Greg Monroe did play minutes for that squad but were well gone from the organization when the playoffs rolled around (Monroe even played against the Raptors in the Philly series). This 25-26 Raptors team on the other hand? A Leftorium convention. Barrett, Battle, CMB, Mamu, Markelle Fultz for a second, and this fella right here.
Jackson-Davis had an impressive debut game, looking like he might've been a genuine option as a backup big at a time CMB's thumb was too banged up to go... then Darko just completely nailed him to the bench and we barely saw him at all down the stretch. It was weird. Not that I think there's a star in here waiting to be unlocked or anything... just that the door for his opportunity here seemed to close very quickly on him for no particularly obvious reason.
Still, as very cheap centre depth they probably bring him back. Wonder if there's just something specific they want him to improve upon, seeing as they even sent him to the 905 for a while. Still... they spent a second round pick to get him and a few more of those apparently could've snagged you Ayo Dosunmu... just sayin.
Ochai Abagji -- D
Last year it looked like we had something here: a strong defensive guard who could also drain threes at an above average clip. That's a quality NBA starter with the right shot-creators surrounding him.
Indeed the Raptors do have that player now, but his name is JaKobe Walter and he's notably younger and better than Abagji even at his best ever was... which was certainly not this past season. The long range shot totally disappeared, he looked even more lost and ineffective than Mogbo on the offensive end... and frankly I always thought the defence was a bit overrated anyhow (merely good-ish rather than the amazing level which seemed to be suggested).
Getting rid of his salary (and needing to throw in some second round picks) just to slip under the luxury tax is most definitely not the ideal outcome you wanted when the team traded for him (giving up a first rounder don't forget, who turned into Isaiah Collier, intriguing in his own right) as a re-draft candidate from the Jazz. Seems like a very pleasant dude, hope it works out for him... but he gave the Raptors a lot of pretty bad minutes this past year. The long range shot came around somewhat with the Nets at least.
Gradey Dick -- D-
A tiny stretch where he had some positive games and the shots fell saved him from an 'F'... but frankly I'll leave the "Gradey has actually improved in this sneaky way" arguments to the advanced stat guys like Blake Murphy or Samson Folk. This was not an NBA-level player at all this season and watching him just cluelessly and frantically try to do things on the court was incredibly frustrating to behold.
The shooting and the off-ball gravity was always going to be the ticket for Dick to reach that potential that made him a much hyped lottery pick... we just haven't seen nearly enough of it yet and there's more and more evidence suggesting he just doesn't have it. And when the shot isn't falling... well it's like when you have a dude playing a game of pickup basketball who doesn't really play the sport, but they're very energetic so they just run around a lot without any real logical intention or purpose. Gradey Dick's play this season was downright chaotic and not in much of a good way... eventually Darko (despite being so starved for anybody who is in-theory a threat from long range) mercifully pulled the plug and banished him mostly to garbage time. Even in the playoffs, down Quickley and Ingram, Darko didn't even try Gradey for a couple minutes just to see if he had anything. It's rather telling.
Still, his season was so bad that in a way it makes more sense to keep him rather than ditch trade him for what I imagine would be close to nothing at this moment in time. See if he figures something out in the summer (it has to be between the ears) and give it a shot in the preseason... otherwise the clock is ticking awful close not only to his Raptors tenure, but whether he can stick in the league at all.
But... I'm not ready to give up yet. Maybe. Those tiny improvements off-ball mean something, I suppose.
Great season, lads. Let's see what's next.
**there's also this hilarious "Deep Thoughts" segment featuring Shead, Battle and Walter that played on the screen in the arena during a random March game that I cannot find on YouTube... but it was exceptionally hilarious.
